Engineering / Open resources
Custom software, off-the-shelf SaaS or gradual legacy evolution?
Architecture, scope and operational criteria to decide when hiring a senior developer and building custom software justifies its maintenance cost.
Build custom software when
The business rule is the competitive advantage of the operation and off-the-shelf tools force the team into parallel spreadsheets. In ImpressãoMais3D and Dupla Face, configurable pricing, artwork approval, interactive floorplans and multi-tenant Row Level Security were core to the product.
Prefer off-the-shelf SaaS or static architecture when
The workflow is industry-standard or does not require shared real-time state. As documented in Fiz Meu Site, removing backend and database dependencies when a static export solves the problem cuts fixed cost, failure surface and ongoing maintenance.
Before hiring or starting development
Require a written scope (what is in, what is out and acceptance criteria), code in your repository from day one, automated tests and recorded architectural decisions (ADRs). If a system already runs in production, evolve it by gradually isolating bottlenecks — as in VMageste's Kafka and ClickHouse ingestion pipeline — instead of rewriting from scratch.
Project evidence
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https://lagrotti.dev/en/recursos/guias/sistema-sob-medida · EN
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